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Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III is a science fiction western comedy film starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd that opened on May 25, 1990. It is the third and final part of the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy, following Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II. The film is mostly set in the year 1885 with some time in 1955 and 1985. Synopsis Going to 1885 Like Back to the Future Part II, Back to the Future Part III picks up at the moment where its predecessor left off. Doc Brown has been accidentally sent back to 1885 by a lightning bolt. However, he is able to send Marty a letter, telling him where the time machine is located. He encloses instructions for Marty not to come for him and to destroy the time machine once he returns to 1985. Marty works with the 1955 Doc, and they recover the DeLorean from a mine. Before leaving the mine, they discover the tombstone that shows where Doc was buried in 1885. Doc had been shot in the back by Biff's great grandfather Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen "over a matter of $80." Going against the 1985 Doc's instructions to go immediately back to that year, Marty decides to go back to 1885 to rescue his comrade. They haul the car back to Doc's mansion and restore it to working order. However, since adequate parts for a DeLorean car would not be accessible in 1885, the 1955 Doc must fix it with parts from that era. The DeLorean is now equipped with new whitewall tires, and a series of vacuum tubes to replace the damaged time circuit control microchip, which, due to the damage, could not get Doc back to 1955 himself. The time machine's flying circuits were also damaged, so the car will never again have the flying capabilities it had in Back To The Future Part II. Doc and Marty take the fixed DeLorean to the Indian-motifed Pohatchee Drive-In Theater outside of town. Marty takes off from the back of the lot and heads towards the screen tower, reaching the required 88 and transferring to 1885 just before hitting the tower. After surviving scares from Indians, a bear, and even the cavalry, he finds refuge with his own great-great-grandfather Seamus McFly (also played by Fox). He introduces himself as "Clint Eastwood", and Seamus, followed reluctantly by his wife, agree to help Marty find his "Blacksmith Friend". Marty goes into Hill Valley, and goes into the local saloon to try and find out where Doc lives. Buford shows up however, and picks a fight with Marty, in no small part due to the ridiculous "Western" clothing given to him by the 1955 Doc. Eventually Marty ends up being hanged from the partly-complete clock tower, at which point Doc shows up and saves him. Buford then demands $80 from the Doc to replace a horse he shot a few days previously, blaming a horseshoe the Doc attached. Doc refuses, and Buford promises to kill him. Doc takes Marty back to his workshop, and the two are set to return home, only for Marty to tell Doc that he ripped the DeLorean's fuel line. Marty is unconcerned, believing they can use the 2015 model "Mr. Fusion" to draw energy from any object placed inside to power the time machine, but a devastated Doc tells Marty that Mr. Fusion only powers the time circuits and flux capacitor. The actual car has always run on Unleaded Gasoline and always will. "There won't be a gas station around until sometime next century...", hence they are out of gas and out of luck. Doc's first idea is to get a team of horses to pull the DeLorean to 88 MPH, but this fails, as the car barely breaks 20MPH. The next plan is to fill the DeLorean's gas tank with whiskey from the saloon; unfortunately this proves too volatile and destroys the engine completely. The plan to return to 1985 Doc devises a plan to push the DeLorean with a train locomotive across a bridge over Shonash Ravine (later be renamed Clayton Ravine) that has not been completed yet, but will be in use in 1985 when Marty arrives. However, Doc finds himself infatuated with the town's schoolteacher Clara Clayton after rescuing her from falling into the ravine. (The ravine was to be named after her, as Marty points out, however, Doc's intervention prevents this.) Buford tries to kill the Doc at the town's festival, only for Marty to disrupt the attempt. The next day however, Marty notices that a photo he took of the Doc's gravestone is changing to read "Clint Eastwood" instead, and realizes that now Buford is after his blood. Marty is able to defeat Tannen with a trick the real Clint Eastwood once used, and persuade Doc to come back with him. However, Clara sneaks aboard the train as they attempt to push the De Lorean back to 1985. As Doc is climbing on the outside of the train to reach the DeLorean, Clara blows the train's whistle. Doc goes back for her, making the decision to take her back to the future. Before he can reach her however, the train releases an explosion (a result of how Doc fuels it to get it to increase speed), causing Clara to slip, leaving her suspended from the train). Luckily, Marty is able to slip Doc the hoverboard he took back with him from 2015. Doc rescues Clara and presumably floats back to Hill Valley. The DeLorean then hits 88 mph just before it hits the edge of the ravine, sending Marty back to the future by himself. The train flies off of the bridge, crashing into the valley, and is destroyed in a spectacular explosion. Back in 1985 Upon arriving back to 1985 on Eastwood Ravine (named after Marty's pseudonym), the DeLorean is hit by a train and destroyed. Marty reunites with his girlfriend Jennifer and his family at home - in relief that everything had returned to the now-normal 1985 after the events of Back to the Future Part II. On their way to the wreckage in Marty's truck, Marty runs into Needles and his gang, who challenges him to a speed race at a traffic light. Jennifer tries to persuade Marty not to accept it, but when Needles calls Marty a "chicken", Marty looks like he is going to take the challenge. However, using his better judgment, he escapes the challenge by shifting the truck into reverse; he then discovers that if he had gone on with the race, he would have hit a Rolls Royce (see Marty McFly page). In 2015, Jennifer had overheard Marty's mother and daughter talking about how Marty was sued by the driver, injured his hand, and gave up his dream of being a rock star. He returns to the DeLorean's wreckage site with Jennifer. Thinking he would never see Doc again, Marty is surprised as the railroad crossing lights activate without a train in sight. The Doc has returned to 1985 in a new time machine, fashioned in the form of a modified 1880s-era locomotive. Doc is now married to Clara and they have two sons, Jules and Verne (named after Clara and Doc's favorite author, Jules Verne). Doc assures Marty that everything is back to normal in all times and that the future is "Whatever you make of it." After Marty inquires where Doc is headed next, and the inventor replies that he won't be returning to the future, as he has already been there. The train itself lifts off of the track and turns around in midair, much like the DeLorean did in part 1, accelerates toward the viewer, and vanishes into another time as the movie ends. Release and recognitions The movie grossed US$23 million in its first weekend of US release and $87.6 million altogether in US box office receipts – $243 million worldwide. On 17 December 2002 Universal Studios released Back to the Future Part III in a boxed set with the first two films on DVD and VHS which did extremely well. In the DVD widescreen edition there was a minor framing flaw that Universal has since corrected, available in sets manufactured after February 21, 2003. In 1990, the movie won a Saturn Award for Best Music for Alan Silvestri and a Best Supporting Actor award for Thomas F. Wilson. In 2003, it received AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for Best Special Edition of the Year, an award based on consumer online voting. Cast and crew Cast as Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen]] ]] *Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly ("Clint Eastwood") and Seamus McFly *Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett "Doc" Brown *Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton *Thomas F. Wilson as Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen and Biff Tannen *Lea Thompson as Maggie McFly and Lorraine Baines McFly *James Tolkan as Marshal Strickland *Elisabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker *Jeffrey Weissman as George McFly *Matt Clark as Chester, the bartender *Dub Taylor as Saloon Old-Timer #1 *Harry Carey, Jr. as Saloon Old-Timer #2 *Pat Buttram as Saloon Old-Timer #3 *Burton Gilliam as Colt Gun Salesman Crew *Robert Zemeckis: director/screenwriter *Bob Gale: producer/screenwriter *Neil Canton: producer *Kathleen Kennedy: executive producer *Frank Marshall: executive producer *Steven Spielberg: executive producer *Steve Starkey: associate producer Universal logo Universal Pictures had selected Back to the Future Part III to feature its then-new computer generated logo for the first time. This was in celebration of the studio's 75th anniversary. The start of the sequence displayed the former versions of the Universal logo before the new one. The new logo featured the UNIVERSAL rolling in from the right angle of the animated globe. It also featured a light orchestral tune by film composer James Horner. Universal continued using this logo up until 1997, when a more modern-looking revamp of this logo (and new music) was introduced. According to the DVD audio commentary, Bob Gale had originally suggested that the studio should use the Universal logo from the 80s so that all three films would be consistent. But Universal executives wanted to use the new logo, because they felt that Back to the Future Part III would be the studio's biggest film of 1990. Music Back To The Future: Part III is the second movie in the trilogy to feature a major-label band on its soundtrack. Southern rockers ZZ Top contributed "Doubleback" from their 1990 album Recycler to the soundtrack, and the trio even have a cameo appearance during the town's festival scene as the band (They are not credited as themselves in the movie, although their trademark appearance does not change for their roles.) The subsequent video for "Doubleback" also uses clips from the movie. This video is featured on the 2002 DVD release of the Back To The Future trilogy. Trivia *When Marty arrives in 1885 and an arrow hits the gas line of the DeLorean, causing all of the fuel to leak out, fans often criticize the film for failing to have Marty siphon gas out of the other version of the car - the one that is still buried in the mine and which Marty will one day unearth (and from his point of view, already has) in 1955. However, it is unlikely that this car has any gas in it; when storing a car for long periods of time, one drains out all the fluids (including gasoline), and Doc would surely have done this before burying the car in the mine (this is borne out by a line of dialogue from 1955 Doc, after the DeLorean is unearthed from the mine. He says "I put gas in the tank" - thus, there must not have been any gas in the car when it was buried in the mine). Also, Marty would not want to risk damaging the other DeLorean because it would leave him with no car to use in 1955, creating a paradox. *In 1955, while fixing the time circuits, Doc sneers and remarks, "No wonder this circuit failed; it says 'Made in Japan'." Marty replies, "What do you mean, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan." His remark is based on the reputation of Japanese products that, until the "Golden '60s economic miracle", the products were often cheap and poorly made. By the 1970s (and even today), Japan has become one of the world leaders in technology. *Doc tells Marty that his family, the Von Brauns, arrived in the United States in 1908, but changed their name to Brown as a result of World War I. Wernher Von Braun was a German scientist who is responsible for the design for the infamous V2 Rocket of the second World War, as well as assisting the Americans in their race to space in the 1950s. *At the Pohatchee Drive-In Theater, Doc asks Marty who Clint Eastwood is. Marty looks at the poster next to him and says, "That's right; you haven't heard of him yet." The poster is for Revenge of the Creature, which starred Clint Eastwood in his first movie. Eastwood was not offended at having his name used in this film, and was reportedly rather amused at the notion. *The clothes that Doc wears in the final scene in the movie were modeled after the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz. *Despite the thriving business of drive-in theaters in the 50's (with over 4,000 in operation by 1958) and the use of real drive-ins in other movies (such as Grease and Ski Party), the Pohatchee Drive-In featured in BTTF3 was only propped specifically for the movie. Built in the open plains of Monument Valley, Utah, it was immediately torn down after completion of the film. *A scene with Buford Tannen killing Marshall Strickland was filmed but not included in the movie, though it was retained in the novelization (and later as a bonus scene in the 2002 DVD release). Therefore, there was no explanation in the actual film why it was not Marshall Strickland who arrested Tannen at the end of the film. Because of the loss of this scene, this is probably why Tannen is charged with robbing the Pine City stage on-screen (the line being simply redubbed in post-production), rather than with the murder of Marshall Strickland as in the book. *Gasoline, while not commonly available at gas stations in 1885, would still have been relatively easy to come by, as it was collected and burnt as a nearly useless waste byproduct of petroleum processing to obtain lamp oil and kerosene, which were more valuable. However, with the time restraint placed by Doc's impending death, it may have been impossible to travel to an oil processing plant and return in time, and Doc and Marty tried alternatives to gasoline which destroyed the engine. * While shooting the stunt where Marty is being hanged by Tannen and his gang, Fox offered to try the stunt without using a box to stand on. He then miscalculated where his hand would slip between the rope and his neck, actually hanging himself, causing him to pass out. * Doc says during the movie that Marty and he could use the DeLorean on ice to make it past 88 mph, but ice wouldn't appear until winter. However, after Buford Tannen is put in jail, they could have waited as long as they want, but the argument of the movie was that the train was the last and only hope. *In the beginning of the movie, 1955 Doc Brown learns what happens to 1985 Doc Brown that causes 1985 Doc Brown to be sent to 1885. 1955 Doc Brown should then be able to retain this knowledge until 1985 to avoid the accident, just as he used knowledge of the future to wear a bulletproof vest during the first time travel experiment in the first installment of the series. However, it should be noted that when he first hears of his 1985 self being sent to 1885, he is initially receptive to the idea. Also, after someone has time traveled their memories would be the ones from the original timeline before they time traveled, even if they changed the timeline (Marty's memory doesn't change in the first movie), so Doc from 1985 wouldn't have the modified 1955 Doc's memory. Another way of looking at it is this the Doc that first creates the time machine does not know to wear a bullet proof vest until Marty goes back to tell his Doc's younger self. Also, the Doc that first creates the time machine has no knowledge of Marty from the past until Marty goes back and then returns. So, the Doc that is in the Delorean that gets hit by lightning sending it back to 1885 doesn't know to watch out for the lightning because Marty hasn't told his older self yet. * We are told in the middle of the film that, because Doc and Marty saved Clara from falling in the ravine, the ravine won't be named after her in 1985, thus changing the future. At the end of the film where Marty goes back to 1985 on the railway on the DeLorean, as he passes the railway crossings, the path is named "Eastwood Ravine", named after Marty's 1885 alias, Clint Eastwood. Video and computer games LJN released an NES game called Back to the Future II & III, a sequel to their game based on the first movie. An arcade Back to the Future Part III game was also released that would eventually be ported to several home video game systems, including the Sega Genesis. See also *Back to the Future timeline *Back to the Future trilogy *''Back to the Future'' *''Back to the Future Part II'' External links ''These links were last verified 27 November 2006 * Official Universal Pictures site * BTTF.com * BTTF Frequently Asked Questions written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis * Category:Films